No Man's Land: The Place of Latter-Day Saints in the Culture War

Poynter Center Monograph Pamphlet, February 1999

28 Pages Posted: 21 Jan 2008

See all articles by Frederick Mark Gedicks

Frederick Mark Gedicks

Brigham Young University - J. Reuben Clark Law School

Abstract

Latter-day Saints occupy an ironic middle ground in the culture war. They have little in common with the cultural left, although studies consistently show that they do share with the left a greater sensitivity to the plight of religious minorities. On the other hand, though Latter-day Saints are frequently lumped with conservative Christians as targets of the left, conservative Christians are not as sensitive to the situation of religious minorities in general, and they are intolerant of Latter-day Saints in particular. Conservative Christians are also far more invested than Latter-day Saints in using the power of government to alter social and cultural norms and behaviors so that they are more supportive of Christian beliefs.

This suggests two conclusions. First, the cultural right should not take Latter-day Saints for granted in the culture war. Latter-day Saints have a fundamentally different normative conception of church/state relations than do conservative Christians, and are generally uninterested in re-establishing the United States as a Christian nation. The greater sensitivity of Latter-day Saints to the plight of religious minorities also makes them unlikely supporters of some items on the conservative Christian agenda, and potential allies on these issues with the cultural left. Second, Latter-day Saints themselves should be wary of uncritically adopting the agenda of the cultural right, even though they share some cultural attitudes with conservative Christians. Indeed, Latter-day Saints may well be worse off in a regime dominated by conservative Christians than in one animated by secularists and unbelievers.

Keywords: Mormons, Mormon church, Latter-day Saints, religious right, conservative Christians, Mormons as Christians

Suggested Citation

Gedicks, Frederick Mark, No Man's Land: The Place of Latter-Day Saints in the Culture War. Poynter Center Monograph Pamphlet, February 1999, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1085443

Frederick Mark Gedicks (Contact Author)

Brigham Young University - J. Reuben Clark Law School ( email )

504 JRCB
Provo, UT 84602-8000
United States
801-422-4533 (Phone)
801-422-0391 (Fax)

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
127
Abstract Views
1,135
Rank
402,244
PlumX Metrics